Study Desk

You must obey the rules, laws, teachings, and commands that he wrote for you. You must obey these things all the time. You must not respect other gods.

These men called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah son of Asaph went out to meet them. Eliakim was the palace manager, Joah was the record keeper, and Shebna was the royal secretary.

Are you depending on Egypt to help you? Egypt is like a broken walking stick. If you lean on it for support, it will only hurt you and make a hole in your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, cannot be trusted by anyone who depends on him for help.

After some time, I will come and take you to a land like your own. In that new land, you will have plenty of grain for making bread and vineyards for producing wine. I am offering you a choice to live instead of dying. Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you, "The Lord will save us." He is wrong.

They said to Isaiah, "King Hezekiah has commanded that today will be a special day for sorrow and sadness. It will be a very sad day, like the time a child should be born, but is not strong enough to come from its mother's womb.

The commander's master, the king of Assyria, has sent him to say bad things about the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear all those things and answer them. Maybe the Lord your God will show how wrong the enemy is! So pray for the people who are still left alive."

I will protect this city and save it. I will do this for myself and for my servant David.'"

I will add 15 years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will protect this city. I will do this for myself and because of the promise I made to my servant David.'"

Isaiah said, "Which do you want? Should the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps? This is the sign for you from the Lord to show that the Lord will do what he said he would do."

Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten steps. No, make the shadow go back ten steps."

Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He also built altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh worshiped and served the stars of heaven.

Manasseh built altars for the stars of heaven in the two courtyards of the Lord 's Temple.

Use that money for the carpenters, stonemasons, and stonecutters. Also use that money to buy the timber and cut stones that are needed to repair the Temple.

King Josiah said, "Go and ask the Lord what we should do. Ask for me, for the people, and for all Judah. Ask about the words of this book that was found. The Lord is angry with us, because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this book. They did not obey all the commands that were written for us."

At that time the priests did not bring the sacrifices to Jerusalem and offer them on the Lord 's altar in the Temple. The priests lived in cities all over Judah. They burned incense and offered sacrifices at the high places in those cities. The high places were everywhere, from Geba to Beersheba. And the priests ate their unleavened bread in those towns with the ordinary people— not at the special place for priests in the Temple in Jerusalem . But King Josiah ruined the high places and brought the priests to Jerusalem. Josiah also destroyed the high places that were on the left side of the city gate, by the Gate of Joshua. (Joshua was the ruler of the city.)

Then King Josiah gave a command to all the people. He said, "Celebrate the Passover for the Lord your God. Do this just as it is written in the Book of the Agreement."

The people had not celebrated a Passover like this since the days when the judges ruled Israel. None of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah ever had such a big celebration for Passover.

They celebrated this Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem during Josiah's 18th year as king.

But the Lord did not stop being angry with the people of Judah. He was still angry with them for everything that Manasseh had done.

In the time of Jehoiakim, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the country of Judah. Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar and broke away from his rule.